Solar (photovoltaic) power systems (or “solar energy systems”) are an increasingly important source of electricity for businesses, municipalities, and personal installations. Such solar energy systems may provide significant energy supplies to offset or even replace traditional sources of electricity, such as utilities utilizing non-renewable energy resources (e.g., coal, gas, etc.). Giving the greatest exposure to the sun, solar energy systems are often installed on roof tops, such as in rows of solar panels attached to a residential building roof. However, in order to accommodate various installation requirements, such as irregular roof shapes and shading, solar energy systems must often be custom-designed for particular installation sites.
Various techniques for determining custom solar energy systems and their potential at installation sites currently exist. In particular, automated systems may utilize various data, such as aerial imagery, LiDAR, and/or parcel data, to accurately estimate three-dimensional properties (e.g., geometry, azimuth, slope, surface faces, etc.) of rooftops as well as shading from nearby objects (e.g., trees, other buildings, etc.). Based on estimated or collected data, such techniques may identify the potential of installation sites to house components of solar energy systems as well as the potential to generate energy (or save energy) by such systems.